"Which Millionaire Are You Voting For?"

On this edition of ST, we welcome Dr. Nicholas Carnes, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. He's a 2006 graduate of The University of Tulsa; in 2011, he received a doctorate in Politics and Social Policy at Princeton University. Last week, Dr. Carnes presented two lectures as part of TU's Distinguished Alumni Lectureship in Law and Politics. The talks he delivered were entitled "What's the Matter with Law School? Some Ideas for Pre-Law Students Who Want to Change the World" and "Why Do Millionaires Run the Country?" It's the second lecture that we're discussing with Dr. Carnes on today's program --- indeed, he recently wrote an op-ed on this theme (headlined "Which Millionaire Are You Voting For?") that appeared in The New York Times. So...why is it that so few working-class people are running for office in (or else serving in) our government today --- that is, at the local, state, and federal levels? That's the gist of our discussion --- and of a book that Dr. Carnes is currently writing. (You can read a full bio for Dr. Carnes here, and you can learn more about his recent TU presentations at this link.)